The Best Example of a Bonus Points Event: Sephora

Sephora’s Annual VIB Rouge Sale is the perfect example of an extra points event that benefits both Sephora and it’s customers. This event incentivizes customers to spend money at the store, use up their points balances and bring along a friend! So how does Sephora structure this sale and what is a bonus points event?

What is a Bonus Points Event?

A bonus points event is a way to encourage people to interact with your loyalty program during a specific time period. You can either let people earn extra points or have points be worth more during the event. You can also do a combination of the two like Sephora has done with their VIB Rouge sale.

This extra points event could be a day, a weekend, a week, or more. The duration is completely up to you, but some work better than others. If you are encouraging spending you will want to keep it short like a weekend to make the event seem rare. If you are encouraging points earning, a week may be more fitting as it will give your customers enough time to take advantage of it.

Sephora’s Beauty Insider Week is the Perfect Bonus Points Event

Now that you know a little more about bonus points events we can take a look at what makes Sephora’s so effective. I will start with looking at what makes it great for the customer, and then move into why I like the event from Sephora’s perspective.

Why Sephora's Bonus Points Event is Good for Customers

There are a few things that make this extra points event amazing for a Sephora customer. I will break each of these into 3 sections.

Accelerated Points Earning

During the Beauty Insider week Sephora allows customers to earn points at an accelerated rate. This is great news for customers who are already hooked on the program. The accelerated rate makes each dollar they spend go further!

Sephora even uses the tiers of their program to give better rates to different member levels. The top tier (Rouge) gets 4x the points and regular members get 2x the points. The accelerated points earning gets customers excited to spend and the tiers make the customer want to strive for Rouge.

Bigger and Better Rewards

Usually Sephora only has a few products that can be purchased with points (around 10-15). These rewards range from 100 points to 500 points and are mostly composed of small gifts like a single lipstick or a moisturizer.

However during this points event Sephora offers HUGE rewards for your points! Sephora offers extremely valuable gifts to members in exchange for points.

Exclusive Rewards for ROUGE

If you didn’t already know, “Rouge” is the top tier of Sephora’s loyalty program and is reserved for shoppers who spend more than $1,000 in a calendar year. It is one of the many reasons that Sephora’s loyalty program is so successful.

This appreciation week treats Rouge members with the exclusivity they have earned. The top tier members will get: mini-makeovers, a closed door shopping experience, and a limited edition bag filled with samples. This is a fantastic example of creating exclusivity in a loyalty program and an effective use of a tiered loyalty program.

Bonus points events are just one of many amazing retention tools.

Learn about all the tools you can use to keep your customers coming back.

Why Sephora’s Appreciation Week is Great for Sephora

It is easy to see why Sephora customers love this week, but let’s look at it from Sephora’s perspective.

Encourages Spending

When a company offers accelerated points it encourages customers to spend more and increases average order values. Shoppers view their dollar as going further during the event so they are inclined to spend more.

During an extra points event, the perceived value of points is higher.

Although an increase in spending is obviously a good thing for any company, it also means you have extra liability on your statements in the form of additional points. This is why it is often a good idea to combine point acceleration with a strong motivator to spend points at the end of your event.

Sephora has done a great job encouraging more spending with accelerated point earning and point spending with amazing rewards. Let’s talk more about offering those rewards.

Clears Point Liabilities

Unspent points represent a liability on your books. They are an expense that has yet to be incurred and for big companies like Sephora that liability can become very large if shoppers are not spending their points.

VIB members love to stash points and save up for those really big rewards. This extra points event gives Sephora a great opportunity to clear outstanding points balances with special gifts.

Provides an Amazing Marketing Opportunity

The Beauty Insider Appreciation week provides Sephora with an amazing opportunity! The special event allows them to create excitement that draws attention to both their store and the loyalty program.

They have been promoting the event on their homepage, in store, and through email marketing (which pairs amazing with loyalty marketing). The buzz this event creates is amazing and the benefits to the store and the customers is tremendous.